WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES

Moroff played all the infield positions in high school and has the arm for short. The question will probably be whether he has the range to stay there. He has decent but not great speed and a good bat. Moroff had a commitment to Central Florida, but signed with the Pirates shortly before the deadline for three times the slot amount.

2012R: 343/471/433, 67 AB, 3 2B, 1 HR, 17 BB, 11 K, 7-10 SB

Moroff had a strong debut, serving as the regular SS in the GCL after he signed. He showed a good, line-drive bat and excellent plate discipline.

2013A: 233/335/345, 429 AB, 18 2B, 3 3B, 8 HR, 65 BB, 102 K, 8-16 SB

Moroff was the West Virginia shortstop. He had an uneven season, getting on base and showing decent pop, but he didn’t hit the ball well with any consistency. In fact, other than June, in which he hit .304, his highest average in any month was .241 in May. He largely collapsed in August and September, striking out 38 times in 115 AB. Hitters with his profile — high walk and strikeout totals and modest or less power — tend to struggle increasingly as they move up. In fact, Moroff’s walk rate declined as the year went along; in July and August it was about half what it was the first three months. He struggled against RHPs, batting only 237/340/319 against them. Moroff committed 33 errors in 110 games at short, which is high but not alarmingly so.

Moroff spent the season as the second baseman at Bradenton, with Adam Frazier at short. He had largely the same season offensively as the previous year, except his walk and K rates got a little worse and most of his HRs turned into doubles. He stole a lot more bases, but also got caught a lot. Moroff’s hitting was very steady throughout the season, with an OPS between .616 and .711 every month. He didn’t have a large platoon split. He played well defensively.

The Pirates will face the same decision with Moroff as with Frazier in 2015: whether to promote the player after a mediocre season. While Frazier faces the prospect of JaCoby Jones moving up, in Moroff’s case it’s Erich Weiss.